When Briles arrived at Baylor six years ago, the Bears had just finished their 12th consecutive losing season under four coaches since the inception of the Big 12.

Briles is 41-30 at Baylor, which is 8-0 for the first time in school history. The Bears are fifth in the BCS standings and have won a school-record 12 games in a row. Briles’ fast-paced spread offense has turned Baylor into a national title contender this season. The Bears are averaging 61 points, on pace to break a major college football record.

The 10-year deal goes through the 2023 season. Briles had already been signed for multiple seasons past this year.

“We’ve got a lot of bridges to cross. We feel like we’re in the infant stages of our program, without question,” said Briles, who turns 58 next month. “That’s what makes it exciting.”

After playing Texas Tech in the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium this weekend, the Bears have games left at 12th-ranked Oklahoma State and TCU. Their regular-season finale, which will be the last game played at Floyd Casey Stadium, is Dec. 7 against 23rd-ranked Texas in what could conceivably determine the Big 12 champion.

Baylor went 4-8 in each of Briles’ first two seasons, including 2009 when Robert Griffin III suffered a season-ending knee injury in the third game of the season.

But in 2010, the Bears had their first winning season as a Big 12 team and made it to their first bowl game in 16 years. A year later, Griffin won the Heisman Trophy while Baylor capped its first 10-win season since Mike Singletary was a linebacker at the school 31 years earlier with a win over Washington in the Alamo Bowl.

Next season, the Bears move into a new $260 million on-campus stadium situated on the banks of the Brazos River.

Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw said in a recent interview with the AP that Briles turned Baylor “into a destination job” after arriving in a position that “was not the most appealing out there.”

“To his credit, Art’s created something here that’s really special and we hope he’s going to see it through to the final line,” McCaw said then.

Briles came to Baylor from Houston, where he was 34-28 in five seasons (2003-07). The Cougars were 0-11 two seasons before he arrived, but Briles led them the 2006 Conference USA championship and four bowl games.

Briles has spent his entire coaching career in Texas, starting in the high school ranks. He won four state championships in his 12 seasons at Stephenville High before becoming the running backs coach at Texas Tech, his alma mater. He spent three seasons with the Red Raiders before going to Houston.

“Obviously, his track record was tremendous, but the things that were especially appealing about him were his ability to turn around programs,” McCaw told the AP last month. “What he did at Stephenville High, taking over a program that really had never won, leading them to four state championships, taking over Houston when they were 0-11 and taking them to four bowl games. It takes a unique coach to be able to lead that kind of a turnaround, and he’s got the makeup to do it. And he’s done it again at Baylor.”

FSU star under investigation

Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston is under investigation in an alleged sexual assault reported nearly a year ago.

The university and Winston’s attorney confirmed Wednesday that the Tallahassee Police Department is conducting an investigation.

The redshirt freshman is one of the leading contenders for the Heisman Trophy.

Tallahassee Police Department officials refused to answer any questions, although they did release a heavily redacted two-page incident report. The report does not mention Winston by name, but it says the incident took place between 1:30 and 2 a.m. last Dec. 7.

Timothy Jansen, a Tallahassee attorney, said Winston hasn’t been interviewed by police. Jansen said that at one point he had believed the matter had been resolved.

A&M teammates, Baylor QB semifinalists

Texas A&M teammates Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans are two of the 15 semifinalists for the 2013 Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, officials announced Wednesday.

Manziel, A&M’s quarterback and winner of the 2012 Heisman Trophy, ranks second nationally in total offense (3,924 yards) and has thrown a school-record 31 touchdown passes for No. 11 A&M (8-2). Evans, the lone wide receiver among the Walter Camp semifinalists, has caught 57 passes for 1,263 yards, with 12 TDs.

Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty, who has thrown for 2,657 yards and 21 touchdowns while leading the fifth-ranked Bears (8-0) into the BCS national title mix, is the only other player from a college in Texas who made the 15 semifinalists. Among the semifinalists, 10 are quarterbacks and three are defenders. There is one running back and Evans is the lone receiver.

TCU roundup

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Swimming and diving:

The Horned Frogs made history, defeating rival SMU 177.5-122.5 at the TCU Recreation Center Natatorium for the first victory ever over the Mustangs in a dual meet. TCU won 11 of 16 events, with sophomore Adam Szilagyi winning three individual titles.

Senior guard Marshal Henderson, a former Hurst L.D. Bell standout, will be back on the court for Saturday’s road game against Coastal Carolina after being suspended for the season opener. Henderson scored more than 20 points per game last season, but was indefinitely suspended in July after police found him with small amounts of marijuana and cocaine during a traffic stop, though he was not arrested. Henderson was suspended three regular-season games by the school. He still must sit out the Rebels’ first two Southeastern Conference games against Auburn (Jan. 9) and Mississippi State (Jan. 11).

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Florida football:

Athletic director Jeremy Foley and school president Bernie Machen voiced strong support for coach Will Muschamp on Wednesday, telling the school’s website they are fully committed to keeping Muschamp around to fix the team’s problems. The Gators (4-5) have their second four-game losing streak in Muschamp’s three seasons and are facing the possibility of missing a bowl game for the first time since 1990.

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North Carolina football:

A sports agent’s employee and a former college football player are charged with violating North Carolina’s agent law, making them the fourth and fifth people facing criminal charges for providing benefits to Tar Heels football players in 2010. Willie James Barley Jr. and Michael Wayne Johnson Jr. are charged with facilitating Georgia-based agent Terry Watson’s efforts to sign Robert Quinn and Greg Little – both now in the NFL – in violation of the law.

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